Voters Going To Polls Today In Maitland

MAITLAND — Voters will elect a mayor and two council members today after an $11,333 campaign that highlighted growth and development as the major issue.

All residents will vote at Asbury United Methodist Church, 220 W. Horatio Ave. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

One-term mayor E. X. Blaschka, a Navy program analyst who spent eight years as a councilman, has been challenged by Richard Howell, a 12-year council veteran and executive at Martin Marietta Orlando Aerospace. Blaschka has collected $1,775; Howell, $2,745.

Running for Council Seat 1 are two political newcomers: retail executive William Donegan, who has raised $978.51, and stockbroker Edwin Niemiec, with $1,400 in contributions.

Incumbent James Ciaravino, an attorney for the federal government running for his second term on Council Seat 3, has raised $860. His challenger is Joanne Richart, Central Florida representative to the secretary of state, who has raised $3,575.

Old-line promoters of commercial growth, including three former mayors, are among those supporting Howell, Niemiec and Richart.

Opponents of intense development, such as another former mayor and a member of the city planning and zoning commission, back Blaschka, Donegan and Ciaravino.